Paper Sailboats
by EveningCicada
Summary: Ruto and Punchy are involved in an accident that changed both their lives forever. Sure, an origami boat can't do much to turn things around, but can it be enough to strengthen their power of believing - and the power of love?
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

I like making paper sailboats. It's quite honestly the only thing I know how to make as far as origami goes, but I enjoy hanging them from my ceiling, by my window, and even seeing how far they can last in water without drowning. They _are_ only paper, after all.

Sometimes life can be like paper. We may fold it and unfold it at times, we may make creases. Sometimes we get tears across it, but we're still alive, right? At times, it can feel like our lives are crumpled up, much like a piece of old paper. And second chances are like flipping over to the other side.

Every once in a while, though, life may seem as empty and uneventful as a blank, white piece of paper.

Oh, but if you're clever enough, you'll never have that problem.

This is where origami comes in to play. Take your sheet of emptiness and turn it into something beautiful.

And this is how I learned the way of paper sailboats.

I hope you have a few minutes, because I'd like to share something with you.

I'd like to show you something.


	2. A Trip

"No, no," Punchy's voice murmured into the phone. "Ruto wouldn't like that. You know, ever since the accident she's been..."

Who was he talking to? I lingered in the stairwell, unsure of whether I should go downstairs or stay put and listen some more. The sneaky side of me won the battle, though, and I craned my neck to hear better.

"I mean, I dunno." He shrugged. "Will that get us there in time?"

_In time?_ What?

"If you really want to. I would appreciate it. Hold on." He covered the phone's mouthpiece. "Ruto! Stop spying on me!"

Darn!

"Sorry," I muttered, but smiling to myself in spite. I descended the stairs."Where are we going?"

"Go upstairs."

"What?"

Punchy could sense my suspicion, so he played cool and put on a relaxed smile. "It's a surprise. Go!"

Ah, but I knew better. This wasn't for the benefit of me. By the sound of his voice before, I could tell he was being serious-and I didn't like it.

"Fine," I said. "But you're lucky cats have nine lives."

A couple minutes later, Punchy appeared in my bedroom door. "Pack your bags," he said.

"Where are we going?" I asked again stupidly.

He smiled. "You'll see. You'll like it."

I didn't ask any more questions. Instead I just threw some clothes into a duffel bag, packed a few granola bars, and stuffed a comb and toothbrush into one of the pockets. Before I turned to leave, I examined my small room. My bed still wasn't made yet, though it was already ten in the AM, my window was closed, which is strange because I usually leave it open, and lastly – my paper sailboats seemed to fly lonesomely across my ceiling. My paper sailboats! Surely I couldn't leave them behind. But...I couldn't take all of them, either. Disappointed, I picked a few of my favorites from the ceiling, the one hanging over the door, and the blue one by the window. It was the only colored one in the whole room, and I couldn't leave without it. Though there were others more attractive, I had to admit this tattered blue boat was most special to me. I also grabbed a thick packet of white paper to make new ones.

By the time I went downstairs, Punchy was already standing by the door, studying his watch.

"You know, Punch, you're being vague and I don't like it," I said to him. "What's going on?"

"You talk too much, you know that, Ruto?" Punchy laughed. "It's someplace real special. Don't worry, we'll have a great time."

I slung the duffel bag across my shoulder. "How long will we be staying there?"

He frowned. "A while."

I actually considered going back up to get the rest of my boats, but I could tell Punchy was in a hurry to leave and I didn't want to seem annoying. I nodded like I understood (though I hadn't a clue what was going on) and let Punchy lead the way to the mystery place.

I noticed the town was empty. "Where is everyone?" I asked. I hadn't noticed we were running until I had to catch my breath. Punchy didn't slow down, though. In fact, it seemed like his pace quickened.

"Punchy," I said again, "where is everyone? Are they meeting us at the place?"

"No," he answered, "there's a birthday party going on for the mayor."

"And we weren't invited?" I asked angrily.

"No, we just didn't go."

"I'm confused, Punchy! And can't we slow down?"

"I'll explain everything once we're there."

"Who was that person on the phone?"

Silence.

"You keep saying something about an accident, punchy! What accident?"

He turned away.

My teeth clenched. "Are you hiding something from me?"

"No, Ruto, not at all." Punchy looked at me. "I promise I can explain it."

I was about to say, "You'd better," but we came across a lake and a small paddle boat.

I gestured towards the boat. "Is this where we were running to?"

He nodded. "Yes. Get in."

"Why are we in such a hurr-"

"I said get in, Ruto!"

"Jeez, fine."

I folded my arms across my chest and glared at him. "What's your problem? Why are you being so nasty?"

"Ruto, we can't talk about this here. Once we're there, okay? I promise, everything will make perfect sense later on, okay?" 

"Okay," I said angrily. "Fine. But I'm scared to death."

"Don't be. I'm just trying to prote-" he stopped.

My eyes focused on him. "What are you trying to do?"

His triangular ears twitched."N-nothing. Um, I'm trying to protect us, is all."

"Protect us from _what?_"

"Patience. Things will make sense. I promise."

I yawned. Punchy began rowing the boat, and suddenly, I felt extremely sleepy.

_Sleep, Ruto,_ I heard something in my voice coo._ Sleep._

So I did sleep.


	3. The Story

When I woke up some time later, I didn't remember anything. It wasn't one of those times when you feel a little blurry in the morning. No, this was a full-on blackout of the mind.

My eyes fluttered open when we reached a small island. Wait, had we been traveling? I'd guessed so, because I was sprawled out inside a tiny rowboat. And..._we_? Why did I keep using _we? _But my question was answered when I saw Punchy staring at the water below, watching the waves lap against the boat and sand.

"P-punchy?"

His ears bent in response and he looked up quickly. "Ruto? You're awake. Um, hey." He gave me his signature smile.

"What are we doing here?" I asked. I looked down at my shoes. Shouldn't I had brought something? A travel bag? A suitcase? Wait, were we even staying here at all? How long, and why-

"Help me bring this onto the beach." Punchy paddled a little with his paws.

I shook the thoughts out of my head and helped haul the boat ashore. I just noticed it was sunset when I turned around to look at the sky. It was painted orange.

"What are we-"

"Hush. No talking until we, er, _I_ make dinner. Then I will explain everything."

I was getting angry now. Why couldn't he just answer my stupid questions and be done with it? Was there something he did not want me to know? And if so, why? What was going on?

But instead I just mumbled, "Okay," and made a sailboat out of a palm leaf.

Punchy watched me with creased eyebrows from across the beach. I ignored it and figured he was probably just confused as to why I created origami sailboats all the time; he did say a few times how weird it was, but I didn't understand what was so strange about it. It's just a boat, right? But even I didn't believe myself.

So instead I concentrated on my leaf, and not the hole burning in the back of my head.

Dinner came-surprisingly-a while later than I expected. Punchy was a fast cook, and not to mention wonderfully good at his craft, but I could tell something was on his mind—probably my questions.

"Sit," he said curtly, motioning to a severed tree trunk (or was it driftwood?) that could make do as a seat. I took my place on the bark, er, whatever it was. Punchy handed me a coconut with the top slashed off. Inside was a creamy liquid that had little bits of fruit in it. I winced.

"Coconut soup," he said halfheartedly. "It was the best I could do." Night had fallen upon us now. The fire crackled and sparked anxiously, as did my voice.

"Um, so Punchy...," I began. "What are we doing here?"

He sighed, then looked up as I began to fold another palm leaf into a sailboat.

"I can't believe you still remember how to make those," he whispered in awe. "Because ever since the accident..." He stopped. I looked up. The word _accident s_parked only small memories, and were not enough to bring back what happened since we got here. But still, I remember him saying something about an accident, and anger and confusion fumed through me once more.

"You keep talking about this 'accident'! What does that mean? What happened?"

His eyes widened and his voice shook. "I can't believe you don't remember."

"Th-there was...I...was in an accident?" I stuttered. "Is that...?"

He nodded. "Yes. And I was there too." He looked to the black sea. "Let me start from the beginning."

_Ruto and I were planning our annual July getaway to Sailor Lake. The train would be here any minute, and we were already running late. Boy, did I hate being late._

"_Ruto! We're going to be late! Get down here!"_

"_Coming!"_

_I watched as she descended the stairs, carrying her square suitcase. I offered to hold it for her, but she just shook her head and said, "I like to hold suitcases. It makes me feel good." Since I didn't disagree, I only nodded and smiled._

"_Come on, before the train leaves," she said, smiling. We raced each other to the station. Ruto had long legs, though, and beat me by two seconds. _

"_Beatcha!"_

_The train pulled up in record time, chugging smoke and steam in front of us._

"_Are you ready?" I asked Ruto, but she was already handing the tickets to the man in the uniform and bouncing happily onto the train. I followed close behind and found our seats._

"_Excited?" she asked. "I am."_

"_Of course I'm excited," I told her, returning her smile. "We always plan this trip in, like, February. I look forward to it."_

_Our tickets soon had little holes punched in them and not long after were we chugging along smooth rails. Almost no one else was on the train, just one woman all the way in the back who looked sleepy and closed her eyes and reopened them again and again. Ruto looked to the window, fascinated by the many mountains we'd passed. I studied the brochure we received from the travel agent._

_Come to Sailor Lake!_

_Enjoy boating, sunbathing, swimming, dining, and shopping at the country's most-visited springs!_

_It was a bit corny, but still cute. I didn't understand how it could be "the country's most-visited springs" if it was never crowded when Ruto and I went. _

_About forty-five minutes into the three-hour ride, we never dreamed of what came next._

_A sudden jolt bolted out from under our feet. Ruto nearly leaped from her seat, no longer being so lost in thought. She looked to the floor in panic. "What was that?" she asked, scared._

_I really didn't know, but it didn't sound dangerous. "Um...I don't know. A rock?" I tried, but she wasn't convinced. _

"_No," she said, "that was no rock. That was way too-"_

_Another violent clash clattered against the rails from under us. Ruto was right. She began to hold onto me, as if I could save us somehow, but I didn't really know what to do so I placed an arm around her while we stared at the floor._

_Immediately after the second clang, metal and steel could be heard rattling from below. It clanged against each other and got louder and louder. The lady who had been sleeping in the back mouthed a prayer with her hands folded. She appeared wide awake. Ruto continued to cling to me with tears in her eyes._

_Then it began to screech. The loudspeaker spoke above us._

"_We seem to be having a bit of a problem," a voice said quickly, "we have tried to put on the breaks but it appears they...are not working properly." Ruto yelped; my heart stopped. The voice shook. "Passengers, relax and keep all arms, legs, and heads inside the train. Do not get up to walk around or stand. Please stay seated. Thank you."_

_It was no longer screeching. It was screaming. Steel clashed and rattled against itself over and over. The sound was horrendous. It echoed in my mind and rang in my ears. None of us knew what to do, so we could just panic in silence and feel the small jolts and thuds begin to grow more abrupt beneath our shoes. _

_I held Ruto tightly as the train swerved and leaped to the grass opposite of the track. I knew she was screaming, and I probably was too, but everything was too loud that I could barely tell what was happening._

_My head bashed against a window, causing glass to shatter into my ears and fur. I could feel warm liquid drip down my head, but I was determined to get up and see what had just happened. _

_The sleepy lady was face down on the floor._

_Panic overcame me."Ruto!" I screamed, "Ruto!"_

"_Over here! Punchy!" she shouted, half-covered by a seat lifted up from its hinges. Her left eye had blood dripping down from the corners. _

"_You're alive," I said, and I could barely believe the fact that I, too, was still breathing. But another loud boom from another car sounded, and I knew we weren't safe yet._

"_We have to get out of here!" Ruto exclaimed as I pulled her out from the rubble. The train was on its side so it was hard to walk. There were no open windows; those that were shattered were facing the ground and served as our floors. Something buzzed above my head._

_The lights fell from the ceiling and sizzled loudly. My foot was badly injured otherwise I would step on the growing flame, and Ruto was terrified. "Pu-Punchy...," she mumbled. _

_Fire seemed to travel from other cars to this one too. In a matter of minutes, Ruto and I were surrounded by orange, hungry flames that made us sweat and shiver at the same time. _

_The worst part was Ruto's screams._

_Her screams were like those of a grown up baby, only louder and more terrifying. She was horribly, horribly, frightened. I had no idea what to do. How can you battle a raging fire? Ruto kept screaming that we needed to get out of here, but there was no place we could possibly exit, and I think we both knew the fire was going to win._

_Less than a minute later, Ruto coughed and collapsed. And I felt my back grow hot._

"So," I said quietly when Punchy finished telling me his story. "What happened since then?"

"A voice called out to me," he told me truthfully. "I don't know who it was or how or even why, but it said, 'Punchy, you're going back. Now is not your time. You're not finished there.'"

"So...so you survived."

He looked down. "No."

My heart began to race. "So...you're dead."

He looked up at me. "Ruto," he whispered, "so are you."


	4. Questions, Questions

My heart went racing faster than I could think. But wait, did I even have a heart? I mean, if I was dead...wouldn't...? Punchy's words echoed in my mind. This couldn't be! It was impossible. I had a beating heart in my chest; wasn't that enough to keep me alive?

"Wait. Slow down," I told him, recalling what he said. "We died?"

Punchy turned away. "Yes, Ruto. We died."

I still didn't believe him, but I played along anyway. "Th-then where we?"

He glanced around the island. "Our stay here is temporary, Ruto. But it'll still be a while. We're only residing here until..."

"Until...?"

For the first time in hours, his eyes met mine. "I really don't know, Ruto. All I'm aware of is that this is a place between the dimensions-"

"What dimensions? And how do you know all this stuff?"

"I've...had visions. And dreams. After the accident. But never mind that, I'll explain it later. Remember when we were leaving town? And we hopped onto that boat?" He pointed to the tiny boat resting on thee shore. "And no one was around? Remember, Ruto?"

A frown creased in my forehead. "No," I said, and I thought very hard.

He was insistent. "Come on, you know this. I told you something about a birthday party for the mayor, and you said, 'We weren't invited?'" He chuckled at the last part, but immediately went back to being serious. "Remember?"

Suddenly, something clicked in my head.

"_Punchy, where is everyone?"_

"_There's a birthday party going on for the mayor."_

I remembered running. It was kinda fuzzy, but I still remembered our town being empty and...foggy? Was there fog outside? I couldn't tell, with my already foggy images of the scene. However, I do remember holding something...

"A-and" I said, "I was holding a suitcase, wasn't I?"

"Yes!" Punchy exclaimed, jumping up. "Yes!"

"Then where is it?"

"Your physical things disappeared when you left home. Didn't you notice I didn't have one?"

"Then why did you make me pack one?" I asked, annoyed.

"If I told you we were going somewhere for a while, wouldn't you have gotten suspicious if I didn't tell you to pack?"

He was right. "But I still can't believe I didn't notice you didn't have one! I'm so oblivious!" I covered my eyes with my hand and grumbled, "This whole situation doesn't make sense. How do you know we're dead?"

"You don't remem-"

"No, Punchy, I don't remember!" I shouted. "We were never in an accident! We never died! You're acting crazy!"

He was quiet for a minute. So was I.

"You know," Punchy said after about five minutes, "we were brought back for a reason."

"I don't care. I still don't understand. How do you know we're dead?"

"I told you the story, Ruto. I burned to death and you fainted from smoke inhalation-"

"I fainted! Exactly! I didn't die!" But I wasn't even kidding myself—slowly, gradually, I started to doubt what I was saying.

Punchy rolled his eyes. "Fine! Then give me one memory of the aftermath!"

I grew silent and sunk in my seat.

"Go on," he insisted, "tell me something that happened after the accident."

I looked down. "You're right," I admitted. "You're right."

"Don't know about you, but things faded to black, and something in my mind just told me it wasn't my time. I don't know who was talking, or even if it was myself telling me that in my mind, but...the only thing I remember after the accident is waking up in your house."

"But I didn't have that," I argued. "And why are you only remembering things? And if we're not dead, we must be alive. And where were all the people in town that day when we left?"

"One question at a time," Punchy said. "Honestly and truthfully, I don't know why I'm the only one who remembers everything and has had dreams and visions. You must have had them, Ruto. Maybe they'll come to you later on."

"Okay," I said, still not fully convinced. "And we aren't dead because you said you were told it wasn't your time."

"It wasn't my time to go on into the afterlife. Remember how no one was there in town when we were running to the boat?"

"...Yes."

"See? You remember."

"I...I'm still having a hard time processing this," I said honestly. "I'm very confused. What's the reason we were brought back here for? And why can't we just stay home?"

"Because we're not needed there," he said simply. "We're not...alive. We're...like angels, I guess. Or ghosts. I don't know!" he called out suddenly. I could tell he was as confused as I was, even if he did have all the answers. "But we'll figure it out sometime."

"But how are you getting all this? Who told you this?" I asked.

"I'm just inferring it," he said, shrugging. "Why else would we be brought back?"

"Um, 'cause we're not dead?"

He heaved a heavy sigh and crossed his arms. "I'm not going to stop you from believing what you will, but I am still going to tell you the truth."

I mimicked his position. "I hate not remembering anything."

"You still remember how to make those sailboats," he told me quietly.

"And my heart still beats."

….

"Punchy?" I asked.

He looked up.

"Who were you talking to on the phone?"

Again, the cat turned away.


End file.
